diff --git a/usr.sbin/periodic/periodic.sh b/usr.sbin/periodic/periodic.sh
index 26413c4ab51e..cdbd1b3b57fb 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/periodic/periodic.sh
+++ b/usr.sbin/periodic/periodic.sh
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ if [ $1 != "LOCKED" ]; then
     ret=0
     for arg; do
         lockfile=/var/run/periodic.${arg##*/}.lock
-        lockf -t 0 "${lockfile}" /bin/sh $0 LOCKED "$arg"
+        lockf -s -t 0 "${lockfile}" /bin/sh $0 LOCKED "$arg"
         case $? in
         0) ;;
         73) #EX_CANTCREATE